L.A. County Supervisors balk at some child-safety plans

Ignoring appeals for urgency, the county Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to implement only two recommendations from the blue-ribbon Commission on Child Safety, and to wait until April before carrying out additional reforms.

The board directed law enforcement agencies to post staff inside offices of the Department of Children and Family Services so background checks for potential foster parents can be completed more quickly during emergency placements.

It also directed them to report all cases of child abuse to other agencies that can help victims.

The board balked when Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas endorsed the commission’s recommendation that nurses accompany social workers investigating allegations of abuse or neglect against infants younger than 1.

DCFS Director Phillip Browning and Public Health Director Jonathan Fielding could not guarantee such a move would not require money.

“I’m not confident that we have the current resources needed,” Browning said.

The commission had also proposed creating a child welfare czar, but the board did not even discuss it Tuesday. Instead, Supervisors Don Knabe and Zev Yaroslavsky called for feasibility and fiscal analysis of the recommendations so far.